‘Raw’ Bronze West Coast Brown Crab

The ‘raw’ bronze West Coast Brown Crab, skilfully cast through the Lost Wax process by Alice Andrea Ewing. “The West Coast Brown Crab and the Suffolk Lobster were sourced through a local fishmonger a few years ago now and all relate to the work I was commissioned to undertake for Loewe in 2021. For their Fall/Winter collection, I created a series of sculptures playing with the concept of ‘Fruits de mer’, an extension of the fruit and vegetable works I was commissioned to produce for the 2021 Spring collection alongside a series of jewellery designs. The normal 'in-person' presentation of Loewe’s collections had been disrupted by Covid. The then creative director, Jonathan Anderson, wanted to find an alternative way to present Loewe’s designs, as well as develop the connection with craft which the brand now champions through the Loewe Craft Foundation. The first variations in this shellfish series are now in the Foundation's collection. These particular works were a signifiant ’stretch’ moment for me and the studio - technically and professionally, given the commission's context and reach. I remember trying to explain to the fishmonger that I needed to source an ‘archetypal’ Lobster and searching through a crate of crawling live Brown Crabs to select the one to work with. He was pleasantly bemused by the project and slightly upset that we would not be eating any of the catch. Heading to Butley and Orford for oysters (within the same series), I was both pleased and amused that the waters of my humble and scruffy Suffolk would be providing the stars of a high fashion photoshoot that year.” Alice Andrea Ewing is an artist and founder-sculptor living and working in Suffolk, UK. Having read History of Art at the University of Cambridge, Alice went on to train as a founder-sculptor, producing work through an adaptation of the Italian or Renaissance Lost Wax casting process. In 2016, she established her own studio and foundry in the county. The bronze works Alice produces are unique translations of the original organic specimens, capturing characteristic details and curiosity of form. Each piece is coloured with a patina, adding delightful washes of colour to animate the forms and finished in a beeswax coating, eternalising the fleeting lifespan of native British plants and coastal species. The West Coast Brown Crab can be as ‘Raw’ Bronze or with Colour Patina and is available as part of a limited edition of eleven. Made to order, approximately 8-12 weeks.